Most life and career coaching clients come to work with me focused on life purpose and self development. We all have unique, individual journeys that call us to look deeply within for wisdom, healing and the answer to the important question– Who am I really? The more clear about who you are, the more you are able to find a way to express your gifts in the world. The paradox of this is that in order to know yourself, you must also know who you are in relationship to others.
“Douglas Steere, a Quaker teacher, says that the ancient question, Who Am I, inevitably leads to a deeper one, Whose Am I? –because there is no identity outside of relationship. You can’t be a person by yourself. To ask, Whose Am I? is to extend the question far beyond little self-absorbed self, and wonder, who needs you? Who loves you? To whom are you accountable? To whom do you answer? Whose life is altered by your choices? With whose life, whose lives, is your own all bound up, inextricably, in obvious and invisible ways?” -Rev. Victoria Safford, in Walking Toward Morning, Meditations
Fractal shows connection, Photo by Paula Moirano
You see, the question of life purpose isn’t just about you, it is about all of life. You live in this world with other humans and living beings and your purpose is intricately connected to them. One disappointment I often feel in the self-help movement is the sole focus on self. Yes, knowing oneself and becoming a truer, wiser version of yourself is crucial, and you can do that more honestly by knowing how you fit or want to fit into the greater web of all beings.
